The Forgotten
by Ophelia5
Summary: Without them Circle Day Break would have been destroyed, but in their love they saved the world.
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I do not own L.J. Smith's book or the ideas from them, they are hers and are used loosely in this story.  
  
  
  
Prologue   
  
  
The night world has only two Rules….Never let them find out the Night World exists. Never fall in with one of them…and He was about to break them both…  
  
  
  
If the night world had a prince Stephan Dartan would be him. Trapped forever in the body of a eighteen year old he was lamia, of the old blood. He was not handsome but beautiful, his eyes a smoldering amber, hair the color of chocolate, and skin kissed by the sun. His parents…well weren't his real parents. His birth parents where long ago buried under the cold earth. The people who lived with him were part of his family but it was Stephen who ran the house, who had the power.  
  
In St. Paul, on Summit avenue he lived. It was the perfect place for him. A city not to big, not to small. At one time it had been filled with more millionaires than anywhere else in the world, he called it home. He's actually why Minneapolis was given it's unfortunate nickname, Murderapolis. What can I say? He like to play with his food.  
  
As the millennium approached he was given a mission from the Night World. Find Circle Day Break, find the soul mates, kill them. Stephen Dartan never failed a mission, this was just one more. A crowning achievement in his long career, but he never expected to meet her…  
  
She was no one, plain, innocent, a dreamer…she would end up saving her kind…  
  
This is their story, may love conquer all. 


	2. The Challenge

THE CHALLENGE  
  
Stephan sat in a café outside, opposite him was Nathan Ravanith. Ravanith had thick black hair with pale skin. His eyes were emerald green and seemed to glow at times. The Stephan mixed his cream into his coffee slowly, waiting for Nathan to finish looking over the list of names. It was almost complete, he had only a few more to pin down. Then they could create their trap, and show them what betraying the night world led to. I a grim smile spread over his face.  
  
Nathan laughed. "You're already thinking about the blood aren't you?"  
  
"Nathan, I can already taste it." he said raising his glass in a slight toast. "I leave in a week to show that to the council."  
  
"So no one has seen it yet?" Nathan said glancing at the list one more time.  
  
"Only you." Nathan was Stephan's second. Their friendship went back to the middle ages, when they had jousted together. Nathan was the only one who had been able to beat him at the games, and because of that Stephan rewarded him with a new life.   
  
"Will you be a the mayor's ball tonight? At the landmark center, your grandfather will be there."  
  
Stephan sighed, his "Grandfather" was actually the oldest living vampire in his family. "No I think I'll play the game tonight, interested?  
  
Nathan smiled, an evil smirk that changed the features on his face somehow. The change made him look as if he were related to Satan himself. The game was simple, but most entertaining. Humans were so quick to through their lives away, Stephan was happy to take it. They would search out those who wanted to die, and simply help them along their way. The goal was to find as many of those people as you could and finish them off.   
  
"This time I will beat you." Nathan growled, but there was amusement in it.  
  
Stephan laughed. "We shall see. I'll meet you on bored the Mississippi Queen then to compare our results."  
  
"You're on." 


	3. Dreams Of Visions

DREAMS OF VISIONS  
  
  
Again she was having that dream. It came again night after night, always the same. Try as she could she could not wake up. It started the same way it always did. She was underwater, fighting to the surface, lungs protesting. She carried something in her arms. If she where to let go it would be easy to swim to the air, but something told her she couldn't drop it, it was to important. When she finally arose from the surface everything was white. She couldn't see herself or her surroundings, but she could feel. Love, warmth, joy all wrapped swirled around her. Then it was gone. So fast and sudden it was painful, like someone stabbing her. She'd reach out again and again, trying to feel that way but she couldn't.   
  
Then screams started, thousands of them, but a few she could recognize. She found her feet and started running. A gray spiral stairway appeared ahead of her and she ran up it at full speed. It occurred to her she was scarred, but not for herself, for someone else, but who? She had to get to the top of the stairway. Someone was running ahead of her, if she just ran a little faster she could catch up. Suddenly she slipped and fell. Sliding down the steps, unable to stop. She looked up and saw that blood ran down the staircase like a river. It was slick to get a hold of anything, it was hopeless. She just kept falling.  
  
"Shiri! Shiri, sweetie it's time to get up and get ready. We have that charity dinner tonight."  
  
Shiri shook her head to clear away the images, unfortunately the feelings stayed with her. "Coming mom."   
  
Shiri quickly brushed her dark hair. It was brown with sort of reddish tints to it. She pulled it up and curled the ends of it. Dressing quickly in her white gown, she tried to sort the meaning of her dream out. The only conclusion she reached by the time she was ready to go was that may be she should avoid eating before sleeping. In her heart she new that wouldn't stop the dreams but she had to tried something. She hadn't had a goodnight's sleep in awhile.   
  
"Shiri," her mom called from downstairs. "phone for you. Make it quick."  
  
"Okay mom." She called back picking it up in her room. "Hello?"   
  
The voice of her best friend, Sam, was on the other end. "Okay so I'm walking home from practice when I hear that you dumped Brad. And I'm like no, she wouldn't do that without talking to me about it. I am her best friend, but then I run into Brad and HE says 'Yeah, she dumped me like she dumps everyone else'. Shiri what went wrong."  
  
Shiri sighed and started doing her makeup, propping the phone up on her shoulder. "Nothing went wrong. I just didn't like him like that."  
  
Sam gave an exasperate sigh. "You say that about everyone. Your longest relationship has been to months. Maybe your standards are to high."  
  
Shiri laughed. "I only have one standard, I want to be with someone I love."  
  
"Shiri this isn't a story, it's reality. You're seventeen, you aren't suppose to fall in love yet. It's just fun to have a boyfriend. Just cause you make out with someone doesn't mean you have to marry them."  
  
"I know that Samantha. Look I got to go to this dinner thing aboard the Mississippi Queen tonight. I'll call you when I get back, better yet I'll come over if mom will let me."  
  
"Okay, I'll talk to you later then. Bye."  
  
"Bye Sam."  
  
Why was everyone always on her about her love life. So she had never kissed anyone, that didn't mean her friends had to hound her about it. What's so wrong with wanting to be more then just "some girl to mess around with" to a guy. Maybe she wouldn't marry the first guy she kissed, but she at least wanted to care about him. What was so wrong about that? Shiri grabbed her coat and left for dinner. 


	4. A Crossing of Paths

A CROSSING OF PATHES  
  
Stephan watched the skyscrapers of the Minneapolis sky line drift by like silent giants. Their lights playing acrossed the river ripples like small pixies. The cool breeze of the river felt like fingers in his hair, and when it disappeared for a moment there was a kiss of warmth. He could live to see a thousand more years and no night could be as perfect as this one. Soft music drifted in from the dining room.  
  
"Hello Nathan." Stephan greeted though Nathan had made no sound.  
  
"Stephan, you always hear me coming."  
  
Stephan shook his head. "Not hear, smell."  
  
"Ah," Nathan said shrugging. "I'll take car of that next time.  
  
"We shall see."  
  
Nathan tossed a bunch of Ids on the rail, Grinning. "There you go old chap, ten. All wanting release from this world, and all happily helped along out of it."  
  
"Good Nathan, but not good enough. Tonight was a good night." Stephan handed over the ids. "That's thirteen."  
  
Nathan swore. "You must be cheating. Where do you find these people?"  
  
Stephan returned to watching the water. Nathan still had heart in him. He had not unlocked the key to the game. Nathan looked for people who wanted to die. Stephan talked the people into wanting to die. So as long as they wished for death before they died the rules had not been broken.  
  
"You always did watch the light play on the water. Whether it be moonlight, fire, or artificial light. Nothing about you surprises me any more. You never change."  
  
Stephan laughed. "And why should I? After thousands of years, I have living down to a perfection."   
  
"Then it is time to perfect dying prince of dark." Came a voice, along with the sound of a sword being drawn. A dark figure jumped down upon them.   
  
Stephan dodged the wooden sword easily. "Looks like another of those Day Break fools."   
  
Nathan laughed and jumped back easily following Stephan. "To bad he won't live to see another one."  
  
They were playing with the hunter. Either one of them could have easily ended the fight, but why waste a good work out. Stephan laughed as the swords-man began faltering a bit. Then it the unthinkable happened. Movement out of the corner of his eye caught his attention. A girl stood a balcony on the higher deck. The split second it took for him to see her was all the hunter needed. As luck would have it though Nathan realized Stephan had error and slammed himself against him, knocking him out of harms way. Fate wasn't done with him yet. Stephan stumbled heavily on to the wooden rail that broke away under his wait. The cold dark water hit him harder then a train. In all his years swimming was the one thing Stephan had never thought to master, even vampires need oxygen.  
  
Even as he felt his heart beginning to slow he also felt another movement. Instead of sinking he was raising. Someone had a hold of him, Nathan? Perhaps death did not wait at his door this night. Though he felt very much the fool for letting himself be bested by such a ridiculous opponent, he admitted he had needed rescuing. Air exploded around him and he began coughing violently. Slowly he was being dragged to the shore. When it got shallow enough he turned and got his feet underneath him, but that's when he looked at his rescuer. The girl was wet and her dress almost transparent because of the water. 'How perfect' he thought to himself. 'She's the one who caused this mess so I owe her nothing. And I am a bit hungry after all.' 


	5. At the Water's Edge

Shiri looked at the boy that stood so close she could have easily reached out and touched him. His suit was soaked and water trickled down his hair into his eyes…and what amazing eyes he had. Eyes to old for a boy. He said nothing for a time, then did the oddest thing. He bowed. Shiri not knowing what to do nodded as queen might have to her night.   
  
Turning she struggled through the water. She could hear him following her. The wind was cold, colder then even the water as it hit her. The dress useless against it. Suddenly a coat was around her shoulders. She looked up to stare into those eyes again, and this time was greeted by a smile. "You saved my life." His voice hovered on musical and seemed to flow about her. She felt very silly in his presence, very insignificant.   
  
"You'll catch cold." Shiri said through chattering teeth.   
  
"It really doesn't matter." The man said with a heavy sigh. He walked a few paces and sat down, burying his face in his hands.   
  
Shiri, always curious walked over and sat next to him. Outwardly he looked like the saddest man on earth but…somehow she didn't think he was. "Why would it not matter?" She asked.  
  
"I was trying to end it all anyway, but it looks like I can't even kill myself right. I'm sick of this world. Tired of my parents always fighting, of the pain, of the suffering. I'm just so tired of it all. Don't you ever feel like that?" He raised his head to look at her with those eyes again.   
  
Well of course she did at times, didn't everybody? All people have low moments. The thing was…for some reason she knew he was lying. "You're fine." She said with conviction, but then feeling bad for being unsympathetic she amended it a bit. "Good things happen to good people. You'll see." Her head felt odd, maybe she had struck it.   
  
His voice seemed to darken a little bit, like he was annoyed, but it still came out in those sweet musical tones that swept a person away. "And the bad? What happens to them… people like you and me? What makes you sad Shiri? Tell me your problems. Feel them, the pain, the betrayal, no one understands you. Open yourself to me."  
  
Things raced through Shiri's head. Her father leaving her mother, her mothers remarriage, how people sometimes teased her and called her names. How she would never amount to anything in this world. No one did understand… then it just stopped. The sadness vanished like a shadow in the dark. "How did you know my name?"  
  
He looked taken aback. "What?"  
  
"I didn't tell you my name, how did you know it?" She caught something flicker out of the corner of her eye. She looked to the river. The riverboat had stopped and a life boat was rowing their way. "Look they sent…help…" Her words were carried off by the wind into the night. The boy was gone, but…how could he be. Surly she would have heard him leave. She had only looked away for a second. Standing she looked around. For a minute she thought maybe she had dreamed him…but that didn't explain the black coat that still hung around her shoulders.  
  
  
  
Stephan watched the girl go, watched Shiri go. How had she resisted his will? No human could, not even many vampires could. How had she? Who was she? He owed her nothing…but why could he not get her out of his head. 


End file.
